Butternut Squash and Chevré Soup

For no known reason, I want to like butternut squash soup. A lot. For the past 5ish years, Scooby and I have had a partnership where I would try a recipe once (or so) a year, and Scooby would eat it. He’s a good pal, eating all that food I don’t like. J I also try ordering butternut squash soups that sound interesting in restaurants. The most recent one I tried had potential. It was at the Terrace in the Park. It had goat’s cheese and espresso of all things! I still didn’t like it. But I could see that I might like it if it weren’t so darn sweet.

Well, I’ve had the desire to try this again for a full season. I looked up recipes differently. I stayed away from recipes with apples. Or without any other strong flavours. I came across one with a behemoth name – Moroccan Butternut Squash and Goad Cheese Soup With Coconut Ginger Cream and Pistachios.  Entirely too many words for a recipe title. Accurate, to be sure. But unwieldy. (This woman made a beautiful soup. If you want to see her version, click right here.

I didn’t have everything it called for, and made the odd substitution – but it’s still pretty similar. With a shorter name. It packs quite a wallop, so if you don’t like spice, you may want to rethink trying this one.

Butternut Squash and Chevré Soup

2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 small butternut squash, peeled + cubed (about 4 cups)
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk, less ½ cup
2 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper, to taste
119 grams (4 oz) chevré (goat cheese) softened

Toppings: 

Toasted chopped walnuts

Coconut Ginger Cream:

Right after adding chevré
- before blending.

½ cup reserved coconut milk

1 tbsp grated ginger

Heat coconut oil in a large soup pot. Add red pepper and cook for 3-5 minutes or until soft. Add minced garlic, chopped squash, curry powder, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 3-5 minutes then pour in the coconut milk and chicken broth. Bring the soup to boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the butternut squash is fork tender.

While the soup is cooking, make the ginger cream. Add the cold coconut milk and 1 tbsp ginger to a small bowl. Taste and add more ginger if needed.

Once the butternut squash is tender, add goat cheese to the soup. Remove the pot from the stove and allow to cool slightly, then puree the soup with an immersion blender (or blender or whatever works for you). Return the soup back to the stove and heat through.

To serve, ladle the soup into bowl. Drizzle the coconut ginger cream over the soup and swirl with a spoon. Garnish with toasted walnuts and parsley. Enjoy!